


Erastes

by DemonzDust



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: (but they're both adults), Age Difference, Bottom Theo Raeken, Future Fic, Good Deucalion (Teen Wolf), Good Theo Raeken, Home Improvement, Homeless Theo Raeken, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mentor/Protégé, Panic Attacks, Summer Romance, summer job
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-07-03 10:38:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15817203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemonzDust/pseuds/DemonzDust
Summary: After finding Theo Raeken homeless and sleeping in his truck, Deucalion decides to offer him a job in exchange for room and board.





	Erastes

**Author's Note:**

> My first submission for Theucalion Week!
> 
> This is set a few years after series end. Only canon adjustment is Deucalion didn’t die. The war against Monroe is over and now the pack is starting to get on with the rest of their lives.

It was a slightly brisk summer evening. A cool breeze rippled through Deucalion’s hair as he made his way his parked car. His visit to Beacon Hills had been short but productive, and he was ready to head back to his home.

He was sifting through his keychain, when he caught a familiar scent on the wind.

Theo Raeken.

Deucalion would recognize that soapy plastic scent anywhere. He’d been around the arrogant young man long enough last year to be able pick it out from a barrage of scents as if he were his own beta. It had a very particular inauthentic resonance that easily set it apart from the rest.

Although this time the scent is different. Muddled with chemosignals that he had never sensed on the chimera previously.

Curious, he moved towards the dark blue truck from which the scent was drifting and peered inside the window.

There he was, nestled in a blanket across the front seat of the cab. His hair was much longer than Deucalion had ever seen him wear it and his body had the streigned look of someone that hadn’t been particularly comfortable when he’d laid down, but given themselves over to exhaustion.

There was an open duffle bag full of clothes and hygiene products on the floor of the cab. Clearly the boy had been living in the truck for a number of weeks.

It was sad, honestly. There was something so broken about the way he was slumped over, lonely and isolated in his penance for his sins.

Theo had been one of the things Deucalion had spoken with Scott about earlier that evening. He’d inquired merely to know if he’d been giving the pack any farther trouble, but Scott had assured him that he wasn’t a threat.

_ “If you run into him, don’t hurt him, okay?” Scott had said, with more concern in his tone then Deucalion thought was appropriate for someone that had once tried to kill him. “He helped us out with the Ghost Riders and he isn’t causing anyone any trouble anymore. He’s in Beacon Hills and he’s under my protection.” _

_ “I wouldn’t trouble myself.” Deucalion had responded. _

Eyeing the sleeping creature, Deucalion doubted that Scott knew what Theo’s living arrangements currently were. Scott was such a bleeding heart Alpha he probably would take him in.

Stuffing his hand into his pockets Deucalion turned away from the sleeping chimera and made his way back to his own car. 

None of it was any of his business.

He’d already started his engine and flipped on the headlights when he paused.

Perhaps it was the sad way Theo was curled up, or maybe it was the stirrings of conversation he’d had with Scott earlier - where he’d explained that he didn’t intend to ever have a pack again, but something was causing the slumbering wolf in his chest to stir.

It had been a long time since he’d felt that particular stirring. Probably since before Gerard had laid waste to his eyes. 

The Alpha’s urge to protect and shelter was something he thought he would never be able to feel again.

He let out a long sigh. Reminded himself that after you slaughtered your own pack, you didn’t deserve to have another.

But Theo wasn’t some innocent beta werewolf that would be better off in the hands of another Alpha. Theo had once been a cold, lying, murdering, smug little bastard that had tried to steal an Alpha’s pack right out from underneath him. He didn’t deserve to be in a pack anymore than Deucalion deserved to run one.

It had taken years, and the mercy of Scott McCall to put Deucalion on the path to redemption. Maybe he and Theo weren’t different in that regard.

But they were different in other ways. 

If Theo’s chemosignals were anything to go on, the boy was staggered with guilt, struggling to find a way to right himself. Theo had been in the hands of the Dread Doctors since he was a child and never had the chance to develop the mental tools that would allow him to break free. It would be difficult for him to find his way onto a path that he had never once been on. Not without a guide.

Almost certain that he would regret his choice later, Deucalion pulled his phone out of his pocket.

 

_ [to: Scott McCall]: Would you mind if I took Theo Raeken off your hands? _

_ [from: Scott McCall]: What? How do you mean? _

_ [to: Scott McCall]: I mean, would you mind if I took him with me, out of town for a little while? _

_ [from: Scott McCall]: You think you can help him? _

 

Deucalion sighed again. Scott was always so embarrassingly direct about these things.

 

_ [to: Scott McCall]: I might be willing to try. _

_ [from: Scott McCall]: Okay. Yeah, sure. As long as he’s willing. _

 

Deucalion pocketed his phone. No shying away from it now. He was committed.

 

*     *     *

 

Theo looked down at the hand-written address scrawled across a thin piece of paper in his palm, and then back up at the house in front of him to be sure that he had it correct.

It was a massive, old, three story American Queen Anne style Victorian structure. It’s cream and burgundy colored sides were lined with peeling paint and it’s shingles were tattered but intricately shaped. There was a long horseshoe-shaped driveway looping around the front that Theo was almost certain was just a paved road that had once been used for horse-drawn carriages.

The landscaping was entirely overgrown. Tall grass slouched at every corner, vines twisted through untrimmed bushes and crept up the sides of the house. It didn’t look like the kind of house anyone lived in, but Deucalion’s car was parked in the driveway so he had to assume this was the place.

“Oh he’s  _ got _ to be kidding me…” Theo muttered as he observed the truly ornate way the shingles had been laid. It wasn’t the work of a casual day laborer, and he had no idea how Deucalion expected him to able to work with them.

“Jokes aren’t really my strong suit, I’m afraid.”

Theo didn’t jump from the sudden voice behind him, but his back stiffened a small amount.

Deucalion was the kind of Alpha that commanded a presence - but only when he wanted to. When he didn’t want you to know he was there he might as well be invisible.

Theo folded his arms.

“You do know that I have no experience with roofing, right?” he said, not bothering to hide the agitation in his voice. “And if you just had me drive six hours for nothing, you better at least be giving me gas money to cover the trip plus getting back to Beacon Hills.”

Deucalion let out an annoyed and audible breath.

“So this is how redemption looks on you, is it?” he quipped, reaching into his pocket and drawing out a set of keys. “I can’t say that I find it any more flattering than any of your previous looks.”

“Who said anything about redemption?” Theo asked with a raised brow. “I’m here because you said you had a job and I happen to be pretty unemployed at the moment.”

Deucalion didn’t answer right away. Instead he ascended the creaking steps to the door, that Theo noticed up close actually seemed much newer than the rest of the house. Its wooden surface was polished and both the diamond-patterned glass window and the brass doorknob gleamed in the early morning sunlight.

“I don’t expect you to be able to fix the roof on your own.” Deucalion said, unlocking the door and stepping in. “Most of it is physical labor, which I’m sure you’re perfectly capable of, and the rest I’ll have to teach you.”

“You know how to fix a roof like that?” Theo asked, slightly suspicious.

Deucalion had never really struck him as the handyman physical labor type. More the “hire someone to do your work for you while you read Shakespeare verse from an armchair” type.

“I know how to take care of what is mine.” Deucalion answered curtly and Theo followed him into the foyer.

From the outside Theo had expected the home to be three floors of creaking boards, musty air, and dust, but one step inside revealed that perception couldn't have been farther from the truth. The windows in the house were placed so that natural golden light lit every corner of it’s newly renovated rooms.

It stretched across wooden floorboards, gleamed on the dark mahogany molding that lined the tall cream-colored walls and glinted off classy and understated golden floral patterned wallpaper.

Down the hall Theo could see a pair of double doors leading into an overgrown backyard, with vines creeping into a large and unused swimming pool. To his right he could see the entrance to a kitchen with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, to his left a study lined wall to wall with leather bound books. The air in the house was clear, but tinted with the subtle scents of chestnut, cedar, and old money.

_ Wow. _ Theo thought dumbly for a moment.

He tugged his dufflebag a bit closer to his back, being mindful of the framed prints of late renaissance woodcuts on the wall as he followed Deucalion up the stairs.

“How long have you had this place?” he asked as they made their way onto the second floor.

“Quite a while now.” Deucalion answered.

He wanted to ask why the outside looked so shitty, but since he didn’t want to jeopardize his permission to stay in the house so he kept the question to himself.

“This is where you’ll be staying.” Deucalion opened a door into a moderately-sized and fully-furnished bedroom. “There’s a bathroom just down the hall, you’ll have that almost entirely to yourself. You may use the kitchen downstairs as you please, but if I ever find myself looking at a mess of your making you will lose all access to it. I trust you find these arrangement suitable?”

“Yeah…” Theo said, unsurely.

All of it felt a little too good to be true. The bed looked comfortable as all hell, there was a bookshelf and a writing desk, and two sets of large windows that opened out onto the backyard. 

It put an uneasy feeling in his stomach. Like there was some kind of catch to all of this that he wasn’t seeing.

“Good.” Deucalion said. “Then move yourself in, we can discuss the roof renovations when you’re finished.”

With that he left Theo in the room by himself.

Theo dropped his bag onto the floor and made his way over to the window. The backyard consisted of a deck with a circular table and chairs, a swimming pool as well as a pool house - all of it practically swallowed up by the rampantly growing vines.

Maybe Deucalion really did need the extra help with the roof and yard.

He sighed and moved towards the bed, unable to help himself from trying it out. It had been so long since he’d laid down on an actual mattress. 

As he stretched out on its surface his mind fluttered back to Deucalion’s mysterious and sudden appearance the prior night. He’d been confused and alarmed to see him, immediately shouted that he was under Scott’s protection.

But all Deucalion had done was mock him about his living arrangements and then offer him a summer job in exchange for room and board. He’d cautiously said that he would think about it and accepted the address to this rural California town several hours away from Beacon Hills.

He closed his eyes for a moment, exhaled and let his body relax. He’d get up and unpack his things in a moment.

 

*     *     *

 

Deucalion traced the spines of books in his study as he waited for Theo to join him downstairs. 

It felt strange to have another person his home. He’d done the majority of the renovations himself over the past few years, firmly believing that since his hands had lead the home to atrophy - they should be the ones to fix it. He never ordered food, and the mail was delivered only to the box at the end of the driveway. 

The last time he’d had a guest of any kind had been before his fated meeting with Gerard.

It wasn’t bad to hear the sound of a second person drawing breath within his guarded walls, but it certainly felt odd.

Theo seemed to be taking his time, so Deucalion selected a book from the shelf and settled down into a leather armchair by the empty fireplace.

Time passed. Minutes turned into a half hour. Then three-quarters of an hour.

Rude.

At the one hour mark, Deucalion left the study to see what was taking his new ward - he could hardly believe that that’s how he was  _ already _ beginning to think of Theo -  so long.

When he came to top of the stairs he could see the chimera’s form strewn across the bed, motionless. His face was pressed into a pillow, his bag still unpacked and laying on the floor beside the bed. If it weren’t for the very subtle rise and fall of his back, he might have looked dead.

Deucalion folded his arms and leaned against the doorframe.

Clearly this had been an accident. Theo had left the door open and his shoes were still on. He’d probably only planned to lay down for a moment and exhaustion overtook him.

He briefly considered waking him, but upon another quiet moment of watching the morning sun glint off the oils of Theo’s pitifully unwashed hair, he decided against it.

The work could wait a few hours.

 

*     *     *

 

The light in the room and brightened and faded into early dusk by the time Theo’s eyes slowly fluttered open. He rolled over with a groan, confused in his sleepy haze about why the seats of his truck felt so soft.

His back stiffened and his eyes shot open.

_ Fuck. _

It was practically dark out. He’d slept the entire day.

His stiff muscles screamed at him as he rolled frantically off the bed, but heart was racing and he couldn’t stop it.

He’d failed. He’d been given a simple task to complete and he’d failed.

He could feel his chest contract painfully as it tried to force rapid gulps of air in and out of his lungs faster than it was possible for them to do.

He needed to get a hold of himself.

Gripping the wood at the end of the bed, Theo forced his heart rate to an even pace. Made himself draw breath steadily, even though it hurt.

Slowly his arms stopped shaking and he began to think clearly.

He wasn’t with them. He reminded himself. The worst that would happen right now would be Deucalion telling him to pack up his things and take his useless ass back to Beacon Hills. He wasn’t going to march up the stairs and decommission him. Unscrew his limbs like a broken wind-up toy.

Or at least Theo didn’t  _ think _ he would do that.

He listened for signs of Deucalion downstairs and heard the dull scape of wooden drawers being opened and the light clink of metal. There was also the savory scent of cooking meat.

It didn’t seem like he was angry.

He dragged his fingers through his hair, letting a long breath leave his lips.

The cold sweat on his skin was making his unwashed t-shirt stick to his back. 

He felt disgusting.

 

*     *     *

 

Deucalion’s brow creased as he listened to the panicked thudding heartbeat upstairs. It could have been amusing, the thought of the previously smug little prick he’d known back in Beacon Hills thinking he’d lost his summer job by oversleeping, but there was a sour desperation in the scent that made it clear that the reaction was rooted in a deeper and more primal fear.

Theo seemed to get a handle on it rather quickly, however, and soon Deucalion could hear him enter the bathroom and turn the shower water on. The blow of a hairdryer shortly after that.

When Theo finally did join him there was no rush in his movements. He looked rested, his hair clean and silky but unstyled.

“Decided to finally join the world of the living?” Deucalion greeted him as he pushed greens and sliced meat onto two plates.

Theo rolled his eyes, and leaned against the island in the kitchen, pointedly looking anywhere but the plated food.

“Why didn’t you wake me?” he inquired, his voice slightly suspicious. 

“Better to get a fresh start tomorrow morning then a half start with you dragging your feet.” Deucalion pushed a plate to Theo, who glanced down at it and then back up again as if he were waiting for a catch.

“Eat.” Deucalion ordered. “We’ll discuss the work that needs to be done after dinner.”

Still eyeing Deucalion cautiously, Theo slowly picked up his fork and began to eat.

**Author's Note:**

> Two more chapters in the works for this one. Questions/comments/constructive feedback is always very much welcome!


End file.
